


Nothing Shall Sever this Fraternity

by BroadwayBaggins



Category: Little Women (2019), Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Female Friendship, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22992178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayBaggins/pseuds/BroadwayBaggins
Summary: While spending time in New York, Jed runs into a face from his past.
Relationships: Friedrich Bhaer/Josephine March, Jedediah "Jed" Foster/Mary Phinney
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Nothing Shall Sever this Fraternity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [middlemarch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/gifts), [MercuryGray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryGray/gifts).



_ March 1868 _

They had been on their way to dinner when Jed had suddenly stopped short, his eyes widening. 

“Fritz?” 

His voice was suddenly far louder than Mary deemed necessary. The sound seemed to echo for a moment in the chilly air as he blinked in disbelief, as if he thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Luckily, no one else on the bustling New York streets--so vastly different from Alexandria or even Boston, and yet somehow exactly the same--seemed to take any notice of Jed’s outburst. As Mary stopped in her tracks, wondering what in the world had possessed him, Jed looked sidelong at her for a moment. A childish grin that Mary knew far too well by now was playing at the corners of his mouth. “It can’t be,” he murmured, staring ahead into the crowd.

_ “Who _ can’t be, Jed? Or...what?” Mary added almost as an afterthought, looking around in confusion. She was fairly certain she’d never heard Jed say that name in her life. 

“Apologies, Baroness,” he said by way of explanation, and Mary couldn’t help but roll her eyes. He only trotted out that old nickname on very rare occasions these days, often right before he was about to do something that Mary would surely object to.

“For what?” she asked with growing trepidation.

“For this.”  He released his gentle hold on Mary's arm, and raised both of his hands up to his face, cupping them around his mouth, and just as Mary realized what was about to happen (and was preparing to warn him off of it) his voice let loose, a child hollering for his friend across the schoolyard.

“That cannot be old Fritz Bhaer!”

Mary braced for embarrassment, her entire body tensing, and prayed for strength.This time, everyone on the street  _ did _ hear, and Mary’s cheeks flamed as over twenty heads in their immediate vicinity turned to look at them--including, up ahead of them, the object of Jed’s attention in the first place, and the man’s companion as well.

Mary watched as the two, a man and a woman turned in tandem, and as they did she caught sight of identical curious expressions. The man was tall with thick, dark hair and a rather rumpled appearance--he wore no hat, despite social conventions and the brisk wind of a New York spring. His eyes were also dark, Mary could tell even at a distance--just as she could see the moment that confusion faded and recognition dawned.

“Jedediah!” he called delightedly. He hastened towards them, his companion following close behind. “Or Doctor Foster, I should say now, I suppose!” Mary’s eyes widened in surprise at his German accent, the cadence achingly familiar to her even though she had never met this man before in her life. 

Jed, however, quite clearly had. The two strangers had reached them now, and Mary watched as Jed and the other man shook hands with gusto, wide grins brightening both their faces. Jed’s free hand pounded him lightly twice on the back. The man’s companion hung back slightly, near the pair but not quite with them, although the look on her face betrayed her clear bemusement at this turn of events. “I can’t believe it!” Jed cried. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Jed!” Mary hissed.

“I might ask thee the same question! We are both far from home, it seems…” the younger man’s eyes sparkled with mirth and affection as he looked at Jed.

“Some of us further than others. I didn’t have to cross a damned ocean to get here, Fritz.”

“Language, Jedediah!” Mary exclaimed, her expression halfway between aghast and hilariously amused. It was the first real thing that she had said since this strange encounter began, and while she wished she could have made a better first impression, Jed hadn’t exactly given her much of a choice in the matter.

He jumped, seeming to remember that she was there. Mary was so amused and curious that she forgot to be offended. “Of course! Look at me, forgetting that introductions are in order. Mary, this is Friedrich Bhaer. I stayed with his family while I was studying in Germany. Fritz, this is Mary--” he paused for effect, clearly relishing his next words--”my wife.”

  
Mary held her breath as she waited for Mr. Bhaer’s reaction. He and Jed were clearly close, or at least they had been once. Was it possible that the two had stayed in touch? How much did Mr. Bhaer know about Eliza, the divorce, all of it? How much could she bear for him to know? Mary watched his face carefully, looking for a flicker of recognition, an arch of an eyebrow in curiosity or judgment, a grimace or a look of disdain or shock…

She resisted the anxious urge to reach up and toy with the black velvet ribbon she wore around her neck. She forced herself to keep her hands at her sides, telling herself that it would be all right, whatever reaction the man had. It’s not as if she was unused to gossip, after all…

But Mr. Bhaer’s smile never faltered--in fact, he seemed even more pleased than ever by Jed’s words. “How wonderful! It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Foster.”

_ Mrs. Foster. _ Even after all this time, nearly five years of marriage, it was still a thrill to hear herself addressed this way...almost as much of a thrill as it was to hear Jed call her his wife. Mary finally allowed herself to relax, and she returned Mr. Bhaer’s smile. “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Bhaer,” she replied, holding out her hand. As he took it, she added in what she hoped was correct German, “Please forgive my husband for not mentioning you before now.”

Mr. Bhaer’s grin, if possible, became even wider. “ _ Sie spricht Deutsch!”  _

Mary chuckled. “Yes, but I am quite out of practice, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to forgive any errors.”

“But first,” Jed said softly, tilting his head in the direction of the fourth member of their little party. The young woman had begun to shift from foot to foot, although out of a feeling of awkwardness at being left out or impatience at her own lack of introduction, Mary could not say. She thought she saw Mr. Bhaer’s cheeks turn faintly pink with embarrassment, although it may have simply been the cold.

“Oh! Of course! _Meine Manierien, wo sind sie?_ Jed, Mrs. Foster, this is Miss Josephine March.”

Mary allowed herself to study the young woman more closely as she stepped forward. She was young, early twenties perhaps, but no older. She was tall as well, with intelligent, curious eyes that met Mary’s without a hint of shyness. “Pleased to meet you both,” Miss March said, offering her hand to Mary to shake first. Her grip was strong and sure, and Mary decided that she liked her immediately.

Miss March shook Jed’s hand as well, and then glanced at Mr. Bhaer. “I hate to break up such a lovely reunion. We were just on our way to get something to eat--perhaps you and Mrs. Foster would like to join us?” She grinned suddenly “Anything to get out of this brutal wind. The two of you can catch up more inside.”

“That sounds like a capital idea,” Jed agreed immediately. The young woman grinned brightly at his words, although Mary wasn’t quite sure why. “We were also on our way to dinner. I know a place that a friend recommended. Shall we?”

It was agreed, and the four of them set off, trying to catch up as best they could with the wind howling in their ears and the crowd around them. They found themselves in a cozy restaurant just as the first flakes of spring snow began to fall. Once orders had been taken, Mr. Bhaer asked them what had brought the pair of them to New York, and Mary explained that Jed was doing a lecture at the New York University College of Medicine in the morning. 

“Excellent! A lecture about what, may I inquire?”

“Our work during the war,” Jed said, sounding somehow weary and fond at the same time. Memories of Mansion House always seemed to put him in such a mood. “We met at a Union hospital in Virginia.”

“You worked at a hospital?” Miss March asked, her keen eyes looking at Mary with new interest. “As a nurse?”

Mary smiled and nodded. “Yes, I was the Head Nurse, for a time. Under the guidance of Dorothea Dix.”

“That’s amazing! The nurses did such important work during the war. My father was with the Army for a time, and when he got sick, it was dreadful. My mother went to Washington to help care for him, but they both had such wonderful things to say about the nurses that were at his hospital. He wouldn’t be here without them, that’s what my father said.”

“I’m glad to hear that your father is still alive and well,” Jed told the young woman kindly. “Which reminds me, I was so sorry to hear about your sister.” His eyes turned slightly sad, trained as they were on Friedrich. Beside her, Mary thought she saw Miss March’s posture stiffen. “I didn’t hear the news until some time later, I’m afraid, but I was sorry to hear of it. She was a remarkable young woman.”

Friedrich sighed, looking down into his cup for a moment. “There is not a day that goes by that I do not miss Minna. But she left me two dear nephews, so sometimes it is like she is not so far away.”

Deciding that the conversation had become too personal, Mary decided to let the two men reminisce and catch up and turned to the youngest member of the party. Miss March had been occupying herself with playing with a loose thread on her cuff, but she looked up when she felt Mary’s gaze. “We may have created a monster,” Mary joked gently. “I fear that now that they’ve started talking, they may never stop. It’s rare to see Jed so...animated.”

“Same with the Professor,” Miss March agreed readily. “I was beginning to think he didn’t have any friends outside Mrs. Kirke’s boardinghouse.”

“Is that where the two of you met?”

Miss March nodded. “We live there, although he’s been there much longer than I have. He’s seeing to the education of his nephews, and putting some of his own studies on hold. I’ve recently taken on a job as tutor to Mrs. Kirke’s daughters. They’re quite sweet, and New York is fascinating, but I do miss home sometimes.”

“Where is home for you?”

“Concord, Massachusetts,” Miss March answered. Mary blinked in surprise, about to comment, but the young woman kept speaking. “My elder sister Meg recently got married, you see, and my youngest sister is off in Europe with our aunt, and I...I decided that it was time for me to see some of the world as well. It was the perfect time to make a change.”

“Why was that?” Mary asked, more curious than ever.

Miss March opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as if thinking better of it. “I don’t want to bore you. We’ve only just met.”

“Miss March, believe me when I say that my husband can talk for hours with your Professor. We have all the time in the world for you to tell me your story.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was intended as a five-sentence prompt for Middlemarch, but obviously got away from me. I'd like to thank her for inspiring this piece as well as mercurygray for beta reading!
> 
> A few quick notes:
> 
> The New York University College of Medicine (as it was known during the mid-19th century) was established in 1841. A fun fact about this medicial school is that it was actually instrumental (pardon the pun) in the legalization of human dissection in medical training in New York in 1854. I couldn't work that into the story, obviously, but it's there to prove I did some research lol
> 
> The title comes from the song "Five Forever" from Little Women: The Musical. In the musical, this song serves to replace the Pickwick Club plot.
> 
> There will be a follow-up chapter!


End file.
